Improvement in button-hole sewing-machines



U NITEDA STATEs PATENT .OEEICE SHERMAN oLEMINsHAw, or TROY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN BUTTON-HOLE SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 139,770, dated J une10, 1873; application filed December 7, 1872.

in the Stateof New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Button Hole Sewing-Machines; and do hereby declarc that`the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters ofreference marked th ereon, making a part of this specilication.

My present invention is intended as an improvement upon the Button-HoleSewing-Machine for which Letters Patent were granted to lne-J une 25,1872, antedated June 15,1872; and the nature of my invention consists,first, in a device for automatically opening and closing the jaws of thecloth-holder; second, in the mechanism for rotating said cloth-holder;third, in a device for beatin g the4 stitch over lthe edge of the goods;fourth, in a gage for adjusting the cloth on the holder; fifth, in adevice for raising the shuttle up far enough to permit the loop to passfreely under and out of the shuttle-case; and sixth, in the takej updevice-all of which will be hereinafter more fully set forth. j

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the annexed drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a frontview of the machine with my improvements attached.Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the cloth-holder, with the mechanismfor opening and closing the jaws of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 show themechanism for rotating the cloth-holder. Fig. 5 is a perspectiveview ofthe beating device. Fig. 6 represents the device for raising the shuttleto allow the loop to pass under the same and out ofthe shuttle-case.Fig. 7 shows the take-up device; and Fig. 8, the gage for adjusting thecloth on the holder.

. A represents the arm of the sewing-machine,

freely on the cross-bar G of the cloth-holdersl said stirrup being heldin position by pins d attached to the cross-bar and working throughslots e on the stirrup. At the opposite end of the stirrup E is anotherpin, f, passing inward onto the lever H. N ow, when the work is to beput on, the whole revolving clothholder is drawn toward the operator,the geared dog D meshing in and engaging with the rack a, and, the saidrack being on a proper circle. a continuation of the movement causes thedog D to partlywrevolve, and pressing on the lever H and drawing up thesliding-stirrup E. By means of this action the dog D and the pin fsimultaneously cause both of the levers H H to open the jaws IL h andallow the Work to be put, on at the end of the arm or tip I, the lever Hpassing into the opening in the end of the curved arm G, which acts as aguide to bring the dog D in proper position with the rack a. The jawsare held open by means of a catch, J, pivoted on the curved arm U andcatching on the dog by means of a notch in the dog,

and is held up to its position Aby a spring, After the work is placeduponthe end of the` cloth-holder or tip NI, then, by pushing the wholecloth-holder back to its original position, the catch J leaves the notchin `t-he dog l' D and allows the whole arm toswing out of arm meshesinto and engages with the Worm L, on an upright shaft, 7c, at the sideof the head B. The revolving motion is now imparted to the cloth-holderby means of "the rotating-worm L, thus producing the feed. Motion isgiven to the worm L by ymeans of the feed bar M, shown in Fig. 4, andthe slotted driver N attached to the end of the feed-bar, this slot-teddriver working on a pin, m, in another slotted bar, O, through the endof which the shaft 7c passes. On the plate or bar O is a spring-pawl, n,engaging with a ratchet-wheel, p, upon the lower end of the shaft 7c. Bythis device the worm Lis caused to revolve in one direction at everystroke of the feed-bar. Motion is imparted to this feedbar by means of acam on the driving-shaft of the machine, together with arlever, l?,pivoted to the under side of the bed of the machine.

The pin mis made adjustable in the slotted bar O, by which means thelength of the stroke of said slotted bar may be regulated, causing theworm to turn more or less as desired, and thus producing greater or lessrotation of the cloth-holder, and making a longer or shorter stitch.

In Fig. 5 I have represented the stitchbeating mechanism. R represents aiiat piece of sheet-steel of the construction shown in said figure,which is fastened to a stud, r, and sliding-plate S, said plate slidingou the bed of the machine backward and forward, motion being given bymeans of a suitable stud and roller, worked by a cam on the maindriving-` shaft underneath. This beater-bar R lies iiat with the plateofthe machine, and about threeei ghths ofan inch aboveit and thecloth-holder, and extends just beyond the place where the needle comesdown. To the bar R on the upper side is attached a wedge, s, and as thebar is thrown back at each stroke ofthe cam this wedge, working on aroller, t, causes the bar to sink to the level of the bed-plate, and onits return to resume its original position. This movement is to beat thestitch over the edge of the goods, at the same time hauling it down. Theroller t is fastened to a stud, o, on the plate of the machine, and isadjustable up and down in a slot in the same, with a nut -on the rearside. T represents a thin steel gage pivoted to the bed-plate andworking on a screw, w, to which screw is fastened a spring, x, pressingagainst a pin, y, on the gage and keeping the inner' end of the sameagainst a pin, z, on the bed-plate, as shown in Fig. 8. 'The iront ofthis gage T is provided with slots u a', to allow the cloth-holder topass and repass and not interfere with the projecting tips of saidholder, of which there are two, the top one having the hole for theneedle to pass through, and the bottom one to support the holder when inposition ready for work. When the cloth is put upon the holder, (thejawsbein g open,) and the holder is pushed back` the jaws begin to closeas above dedescribed. Then when the jaws are nearly closed the holderbegins to pass the gage T, and while passing it the cloth is to be drawnby the fingers of the operator up and against' this gage, which makesthe edges ofthe hole even and true; and just as the holder is lea-vingthe further end of the gage the jaws shut tight on the work, and bycontinuing the motion the holder passes on and away from thegage` andinto its place under the needle. The object of the spring x and pins y zisto allow the gage to yield as the operator draws back thecloth-holder, the edge of the goods having been enlarged by thestitching. V represents the head of the machine,in which the shuttle isheld as described in my former patent. At the side of the head ispivoted a lever, w, as shown in Fig. 6, said lever having at its top endan adjustable pin, b. The lower end of the lever w is bent inward andextends down to and near the bottom of the shuttle. A is a cam attachedto and rotated by a horizontal rod, d', running across the top of themachine, andy which rod receives its motion by means of suitable gearingfrom the main driving-shaft of the machine. e is a spring bearingagainst the piu b on the lever w, to hold the same up against the cam A.As the loop is passing over the shuttle the lever w, by the motion ofthe cam A. passes under the shuttle and raises it up enough to permitthe loop to pass freely under and out of the shuttle-case. After theloop is out the cam A permits the lever w to resume its position, whichisjust clear ofthebottom of the shuttle. Upon the rod'cl, on the face ofthe head V, is another cam, Bf, as shown in Fig. 7. O represen ts atake-up, pivoted to the h ead and provided at its upper end with aroller, f', which is held up'against'the'cam B by a spring, h', arrangedwith an interior rod placed on a stud on the take-up, and the other endpassing through a bent bar, D. This arrangement acts as a take-up tohold the slack thread, and by the action of the cam B todeliver it tothe needle as required.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is- 4 l. The curved arm C, havingits outer end forked or cut open, and provided on the concave side witha rack, ct, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. In combination with the cloth-holder, the loose stirrup E, with pinf, and the cogged or geared dog D, constructed and operatingsuhstantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

3. In combination with the geared dog D, arranged and operating asdescribed, the catch J, and spring i, substantially as and for thepurposes herein set forth.

4. The combination, with the swingingclothholder, of the rotating wormL, and the gearwheel K for the purpose of rotating the same,substantially as herein set forth.

5. The combination of the feed-barM, slotted driver N, adjustable pin m,slotted bar YO, spring-pawl n, and the ratchet-Wheel p, upon the shaftk, for rotating the Worm L, substantially as and for the purposes hereinset forth.

6. The beater-bar R, connected with the sliding plate S, and providedwith the Wedge s, in combination with the adjustable roller t,

\ all constructed and arranged substantially as and foi` the purposesherein set forth.

` 7. The pivoted gage T, provided with slots a', and operating incombination with the spring a: and pins y and z, substantially as andfor the purposes herein set forth.

Witnesses:

C. L. EVERT, CHARLES A. SEYMOUR.

